


Stockholm

by orphan_account



Series: The 48 Hours After Series [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Character Death, F/M, M/M, Sequel, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-02-18 21:18:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22200001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: After the events of 48 Hours After, the survivors are left to deal with the bleak aftermath and pick up the pieces. After one fellow survivor turns up missing, it sets of a series of chain events as old and new characters struggle to uncover untold secrets and save those close to them... without losing their own lives.
Series: The 48 Hours After Series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1597990
Kudos: 1





	1. Toxic

Two months. It’s been two months since the incident at the manor.

Carlos thinks about the two month anniversary of the deaths of their friends, as he is pushed up against a wall by Ollie. He lost the people closest to him that day. His friends, his best friend, his boyfriend. Even people who didn’t deserve what came to them. It still leaves his heart broken.

As his and Ollie’s lips collide, Carlos goes over each of the unfortunate souls that were lost. Leah, the one who brought life to the party. Harry, who did his best to make things right, to no avail. Willow, who tried stopping Brahms from doing the wrong thing, only for her plan to backfire and turn on her. Gage, his boyfriend who tried protecting Carlos, no matter what he did previously. Valerie, the one that he loved the most, his best friend who stuck by his side from nearly day one. It wasn’t fair. None of it was fair.

Ollie shoves a hand up Carlos’s shirt. But Carlos is too wrapped up in his mind to care. He thinks about everyone who was able to survive. Felicite, who was devastated over her sister’s death. She was never really the same after that, her mood always mellow and dark, though Carlos supposes none of them were the same either. Liam, who Carlos lost contact with after the first weeks after the incident. Originally grateful for being saved, Liam had turned on Carlos, fury accompanying every glare sent Carlos’s way. It was probably well deserved. Even though in the moment it was a heroic action, the fact still remains that Carlos had ended up killing Liam’s best friend, whether for a good cause or not. It wasn’t so different from how Brahms had killed Valerie. Carlos himself wasn’t survivor worthy. He felt like he really should’ve died as well, the only reason for survival was through depending on everyone else. He depended on Valerie to really find out they were in danger, he depended on Gage and Ollie for the brute strength. Really, Carlos didn’t deserve any of it.

That brings him to Ollie, who is currently feeling Carlos up. Carlos thought that even though all this pain and trauma from the manor was inside him, at least he had Ollie to lean and depend on (This brings Carlos back to the point where he is constantly depending on people, but putting that aside for now). That didn’t happen, though. Ollie had rejected Carlos within days of the incident. He remembers exactly what Ollie told him.

“Look, Carlos.” Ollie had told him. “I’m not gay. You’re a really cool person, but… I don’t like you. I’m not into boys. I think that we should kinda take a break from each other.”

That had left Carlos heartbroken, understandably. With Ollie kicking Carlos out of his life, not only did he lose what he thought was a friend, but now he had nowhere to live. With Gage gone, he couldn’t scrape up the money to pay for the apartment they shared together. He was nearly homeless.

Thankfully, while roaming around, he had ran into one of his friends, Laura, who so generously offered her place for him to stay at, until he could find something else. She had felt absolutely terrible for Carlos, and at that point, she was offering everything for him. He had taken the invitation to stay with her, but didn’t take much else. He wasn’t going to take advantage of her, he wasn’t that kind of person.

That all lead to where Carlos was now. Ollie had specifically told him he wanted nothing to do with Carlos relationship-wise, and maybe even at all, but that still didn’t stop him from pinning Carlos against his wall, grinding up against him and feeling around Carlos’s body. This wasn’t the first time that Ollie had used Carlos for his sexual frustration either. All of these pent up thoughts made Carlos really want to die. He wishes he could just let it all out on someone, telling them everything.

That wouldn’t happen, though. When they had reached a police station, they had been told not to tell anyone about anything that happened that night. They would provide a cover-up story until a full out investigation occurred. The police had even threatened to arrest them if they found out the survivors had told anyone. It baffled Carlos, but he assumed it had something to do with Brahms’s legal team. It made Carlos suffer though, which might be what Brahms was getting at by forcing them to keep the secret.

Carlos’s black and white hair falls to his face as Ollie wraps a large hand around Carlos’s neck. Towards the beginning, Carlos had originally wanted to change himself in someway, to which Ollie agreed with. So Carlos had dyed his hair black, and large strips of it white, to show he’s reborn, or something like that. His wardrobe changed from a fun, colourful selection of t-shirts and shorts to dark, grungy, and edgy shirts, leather and denim jackets, and pants. To show he has grown.

But it didn’t help out. Yeah, he looked different now, but he was still depressed, he was still sickly, and overall he still just dead inside. Now he doesn’t know how to cope. Ollie and Liam both basically bailed on him, though Ollie now uses him as an item, a toy. His friend Ashley, a therapist, offered sessions with her for free. But Carlos couldn’t tell her anything, so what was the point. He lost Valerie, the only one he would tell anything to regardless of any laws. It made Carlos want to scream, want to cry, want to die.

I just wish things could be different, Carlos thinks as Ollie starts to pull at Carlos’s shorts.

-

Giselle knocks on Laura’s door. She hoped Carlos was home to confirm her suspicions, but if not, she would settle for Laura.

She needed to get to the bottom of what happened, and exactly how her sister, Leah, died. The police released a statement, something about a gas leak that killed most occupants. But Giselle knows that was absolute, total bullshit. A gas leak wouldn’t have left the survivors so traumatized. Giselle doesn’t doubt that, yes, a gas leak that kills your friends would leave you devastated, but it wouldn’t leave you as damaged as she had seen Carlos.

There’s also the fact that Leah went missing before the news hit that they all had died. She remembers calling Leah, worried about how she wasn’t contacting anyone, only for Valerie to pick up and inform her that Leah had gone missing. 

“Leah’s not here…” Valerie’s suspicious voice came through the phone, and that sentence started to worry Giselle. Where the hell could her sister have gone to then? “What do you mean she would be home soon?”  
“Well, she had called ahead and said she was having some problems, so she would be coming home in a few hours. She should’ve been home right now…” Giselle was really hoping Valerie had something.  
Giselle heard Valerie’s voice hitch, and a beat of silence. Maybe she was thinking, or putting some things together in her mind. “We can’t find Leah. She left a note, saying she was leaving because she had a fight with Harry. But her car and phone is still here. Harry’s also missing, and all of his belongings are still here.” Giselle trembled at that. People were going missing? Leah and Harry are gone? Does that mean Valerie is in danger? And Carlos? And everyone else? “I’m gonna try to get to the bottom of this. I’ll get Leah home, don’t worry.”  
Giselle quiets for a moment. She had to process what Valerie just said. Leah’s missing. She’s gone. No one knows where she is. What if… No. Giselle couldn’t think like that. She trusts Valerie, so with a deep exhale, she says into the phone. “Thank you, and please be careful.” And then, she hangs up.

What she didn’t know is that would be her last conversation with Valerie. Giselle knows that with what Valerie had told her, there was way more to the story than the officials let on.

This also lead Giselle to a terrifying thought: Did she cause Valerie to die? Now that she looks back, it seems like she had called at a bad time, as she noticed her conversation with Valerie was quiet and rushed. Maybe Valerie was in the middle of something, and Giselle got her caught. That thought in mind made Giselle dizzy, but she pushed it aside. She had to just focus on her task right now. She feels like Laura is the one she could confide her suspicions in the most, as Laura too had been insistent on finding out what happened that weekend, and why Carlos was so traumatized over it. That made Giselle feel a little more confident as she rings the doorbell.

Giselle heard shuffling from inside the house, before Laura opens the door.

“Hi, Giselle. How are you?” Laura beams at her.

“I’m doing fine, thanks.” Giselle automatically says. Well, to be fair, who would be fine after their sister had just died? Obviously, Giselle wasn’t fine, she was heartbroken, she had lost her baby sister. But she wasn’t gonna say any of that out loud, because it wouldn’t really benefit her in any way. “Is Carlos home?”

“No, I’m sorry.” Laura said, seeming a little troubled. “He went to visit Ollie. I don’t know about him though, Giselle. Ollie had kicked Carlos to the curb, basically. I don’t know why Carlos is still going over there.”

That was alarming. What could they possibly be doing that Carlos sees the need to keep going back, even though Ollie had broke his heart? “Well, I needed to talk to you anyways. Could I come in?” Giselle asked.

“Come on in.” Laura steps aside, allowing Giselle to walk through her door into her house.

Giselle hadn’t visited in so long, she forgot how homey and comfortable Laura’s atmosphere made you feel. It takes away all the pain and frustration that you’ve felt, with the pictures on the wall hung perfectly, the plants in pots around the house giving off a lovely aroma. It almost makes you forget about all your troubles. Until you realise that the reason why you’re depressed is because your sister died, so that snaps Giselle out of her thoughts.

“I need to tell you something.” Giselle says as Laura ushers her in, Giselle taking a seat on the couch while Laura sits across from her. “It’s about what happened in the Manor that day.”

Laura suddenly freezes, and all her attention turns to Giselle. “What do you have?” She asks.

Giselle goes over the list she made in her mind. “I think it’s absolutely crazy to say that all the things that happened were because of a gas leak.”

Laura nods at her. “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. What makes you say that?”

“My biggest piece of evidence is a conversation I had with Valerie.” Giselle says, which seems to shock and intrigue Laura. “The night before Carlos, Liam, Ollie and Felicite came back, I had called Leah to ask her where she was. Valerie had picked up instead. She told me that Leah had already left the place, and we both put together the pieces that Leah was missing. Valerie seemed panicked and rushed during the conversation.”

“Do you think she was in a bad predicament?” Laura pondered. “Maybe Valerie had stumbled upon something she wasn’t supposed to when you called.”

That made the fear that Giselle caused Valerie’s death bigger. “I think that might be the case. Before she hung up the phone, she said that she was ‘going to get to the bottom of this’. That makes me believe something was happening throughout that entire trip.”

“But why wouldn’t Carlos tell us if that happened? Why isn’t any of the survivors telling us anything?” Laura questioned.

“Maybe they’re being suppressed,” Giselle starts to think. Maybe the one behind it all was the owner of the mansion, and the obvious choice… “Brahms. Maybe the people in his team and associated with him are stopping the others from saying anything.”

“Brahms? You think he had something to do with it?”

“Have you seen the way that Carlos reacts when Brahms is mentioned?” Giselle mentions. “And Felicite? Liam? They all have some sort of negative reaction. That’s why I’m thinking that there’s more that happened there than what they say-”

Suddenly, they hear keys jingle, and the door open. Giselle quickly repositions herself in a less suspicious manner, and Laura stands up to check who is there. Footsteps coming closer to the living room, and Giselle sees Carlos round the corner.

“Hey, Carlos. How was your visit?” Laura asked.

“Hi. It was good.” Giselle notes that Carlos’s throat sounds sore. She would bring it up later. Carlos turns to face Giselle. “Hi. What brings you here?”

“Just catching up with Laura. It’s been forever since I’ve last visited.” Giselle says.

“Oh. Would you like anything?” Carlos asks. Giselle feels the small little hurt in her when she looks at Carlos’s eyes to see his dead, cold, and sad ones staring back.

“No thank you. I’ve gotta get back home, mom was asking me to be back before 10. I’ll talk to you later, yeah?” Giselle starts standing up, collecting her stuff.

“Oh. Okay. Bye Giselle.”

Giselle winces. She would never get used to that. She and Carlos had been good friends since they lived in the same city, and he would always call her nicknames and funny calls. For him now to say her regular name so coldly and flat caused a little pang in her heart.

“Bye, C! I’ll talk to you later too, Laura.” Giselle gives Laura a pointed stare, one that clearly says ‘we will pick up on this later.’ Laura waves at her, and Giselle leaves, closing the door.

-

Laura sighs, turning to Carlos. She loves Giselle, she really does. But sometimes her little theories make her really think, and they start making Laura scared. She hoped Giselle was wrong, but… She also didn’t. It would explain so much. Why Carlos returned with no will to live, why Ollie drinks himself to sleep every night, why Felicite will zone out at the mention of Brahms. Maybe there is something more. Maybe not.

Laura faces Carlos. “Are you sure you’re okay? Your throat sounds dry.”

Carlos catches her eye, giving her that blank, sideways stare that has been taking over his face a lot more now. “Yeah.”

“I’m going to make some tea, maybe it will help your throat.” Laura makes her way to the kitchen, but still talks to Carlos as a signal to stay with her. “How was Ollie? Is he good?”

“As good as you would expect.” Carlos replies.

“I’m going to guess not very good?” Laura felt bad for the man. She would have to go visit him herself.

“Yeah. But he’s dealing. We all are.” Carlos slowly walks into the kitchen, standing under a light, where Laura can take his appearance in better. His hair is disheveled, though it usually is like that. His skin is more pale due to his lack of water from his depressed state. Something on his that Laura knows for a fact wasn’t always there, though, is little purple marks on Carlos’s neck and collarbone.

Laura walks to Carlos, her fingers delicately touching the bruises, and Carlos flinches. “What happened?”

“Nothing.” Carlos states it a little more sternly.

“Carlos…” Laura pleas. She just wants him to open up to her. She just wants to help him.

“I’m gonna go to sleep.” Carlos says. He then walks off, leaving Laura alone in the kitchen, her heart just a little more cracked from her efforts to help Carlos.

“Okay... Goodnight.”

-

Liam sits down in the red, comfy chair. Across from him sits Ashley, clipboard in hand.

“Okay, Liam. Let’s start off simple.” Ashley’s calm, collective, almost robotic voice sounds across the room. “I would like you to state your full name, your age, and your reason for signing up for my therapy sessions.”

Liam almost rolls his eyes, but does as he’s asked. “Fine. I’m Liam Atkinson. I am 27 years old. And do I really have to say why I’m signing up? I’d think it’s fucking obvious.”

“Well, yes, but it is better to state the reason, and get that emotion out of you.”  
Ashley politely explains.

“I’m here cuz my friend died. He killed a bunch of kids and then was killed by that fucking kid. Carlos.” He almost growls his name out. “Piece of shit took no mercy on Brahms.”

Then, as he finishes talking, his eyes suddenly widen. Ashley seems shocked as well. Fuck. He was supposed to keep that a secret. He’d be locked up now. Fuck, fuck, he did not survive the incident and dealt with all this pain just to be sent to prison now.

“Could you repeat that, Liam?” Ashley asks.

“No. I said what I said. Or more likely, I said what I wasn’t supposed to say. You can go tell them to lock me up now.”

Ashley shakes her head, slightly confused. “I haven’t an idea what you mean, Liam. Can you explain?”

“I can’t. Was told not to.”

“Liam, all information that you say in this session is confidential.” Ashley states. ”It stays with me and only me. I’m here to help you, not to turn against you.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m gonna cut this session right here, you’ve heard enough for today. Or do I have to stay locked up here too, like a convict or some shit?” Liam crosses his arms.

“No, Liam. You can leave whenever you’d like. The sessions last an hour, but you don’t have to say anything you don’t want to, and you can leave when you’d like. No one is forcing you.” Ashley finishes scribbling on her clipboard, and looks into Liam’s eyes. “You always have a choice, Liam. But you will have to accept the consequences that come with them.”

“Yeah, well I’m done for today then.” Liam gets up.

Ashley goes back to scribbling, but then hands Liam a little note. “I’ll set up our next appointment for Monday, at 5:00 pm. That would be in two days.”

“Thanks.” He grabs the slip of paper, and then walks out the room.

Liam roughly sits down and closes his car door. Fuck, he really messed up. But the lady said that all the info stayed with only her, so he hopes that she stands by that.

Liam takes a moment to think. Carlos really screwed up, that little brat. He basically forced Liam away from Brahms, and then killed Brahms. Something like that won’t go without punishment.

Liam starts up his car, and starts driving towards the destination he has in mind. Carlos wouldn’t get away with that. He’s had a chance to settle down and think everything is fine. Now, Liam was about to have his payback.

Like Ashley said. Carlos had a choice, and now must accept the consequences.


	2. Sweet But Psycho

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A survivor ends up missing; Liam's darkness begins to grow; Without finding help, Laura tries to solve this missing case on her own.

“Carlos. Carlos, please. Carlos!”

Carlos looks around. Who was that? The voice sounded familiar… Like her… But that couldn’t be. She’s not alive anymore.

But life surprises him yet again, and Valerie approaches him from the shadows.

“Vale?! Valerie!!” Carlos calls, tears suddenly flooding his eyes.

“Carlos, can you hear me?” Valerie flickers.

“Yes! Wait, Vale!” Carlos cries out.

“Carlos, listen to me. You need to come and help us.”

“Yes! Yes, but how?!”

Valerie starts flickering away, not before giving him one last line, looking straight into his eyes. “Please… Come save us.”

Carlos jolts awake. He sits upright in his bed, out of breath. He could’ve sworn she was real. Valerie was just out of his reach. He needs to find a way to amends and come to peace with the deaths of his friends. He just… Didn’t know how.

Carlos shucks off his blanket, standing up and walking towards the kitchen. He pours himself a glass of water, taking a sip while he thinks. Is he disappointing the people around him? The answer is probably yes. Laura always seems to be sad and pitiful whenever he’s mentioned. Ashley had been disappointed when Carlos turned down her therapy offer. Even Liam, who he had basically saved, was now angry with him and wanted nothing to do with him, as with Ollie. Carlos was really just letting everyone down. He was a wreck.

The doorbell rings, startling Carlos. He peers down the hallway to the front door. Who would be up at this hour? Ringing their doorbell as well? It was midnight; No one should be up. Laura’s door opens, and she walks out, looking at Carlos tiredly.

“Expecting someone?” Laura asks.

“No, not that I’m aware of. I’ll answer the door. You can go back to sleep.” Carlos answers in his usual, monotone voice. Laura gives him a sad smile before going back to her room, which almost angers Carlos. He doesn’t need anyone’s pity. It’s not like he’s anything to be sad about. Now, if Carlos had died, that would be sad. If he was seriously hurt, that would also be sad. But he didn’t. Valerie died. Gage died. So did Harry, Willow, Leah. That was something to be sad about. Not Carlos.

Carlos makes his way to the door, unlocking it and opening it. He is shocked to see Liam standing on the other side, leaning against the wall. Liam stares at Carlos before speaking.

“Hey.”

“Hello.” Carlos says, confused. “What are you doing here?”

“Just wanted to drop by,” Liam shrugs. “And see how you’re holding up.”

Liam wanted something. Otherwise, he would’ve continued to live in blissful harmony while ignoring Carlos. And the fact he wasn’t outright saying it made Carlos start to get irritated. “I’m fine. Goodnight.” Carlos wasn’t gonna put up with any games, as he shuts the door.

“Wait!” Liam says, louder than expected. Carlos stops, opening the door slightly. “I just… I wanted to talk to you.”

Now Carlos was just confused. Wasn’t Liam mad at him? He had literally wished death upon Carlos. So, the more Carlos thought about it… “No you don’t.”

Liam’s innocent, pleading features flicker. “What?”

Carlos crossed his arms, completely unimpressed. “You kicked me to the curb. You were content without me in your life. The only real reason why you would be here is if you want something. Now tell me. What is it.”

Liam stares at Carlos, dumbfounded the upbeat and happy boy he knew is now this depressed, emotionless man. He blinks, before sighing. “Yeah, you’re right. I need to show you something.”

Carlos quirks one eyebrow up. “Why should I trust you?”

“Don’t you?” Liam asked, his voice a little agitated.

“No, I don’t.”

“Well, you’re gonna have to.” Liam grabs Carlos’s wrist, ignoring how he flinches and jumps back, beginning to tug the boy over to his car. “It’s important.”

“I don’t care, let me go.” Carlos was starting to get angry now too. He starts struggling out of Liam’s grip, finally being able to release himself.

Liam looks back, a devilish look in his eyes. “You…” He starts to stay, before stopping and just glaring at Carlos, which Carlos happily returns.

It happens in a flash. Their stare-off is broken by Liam, who suddenly whips around and bolts to his car. Carlos stands there, looking confused. But the second he sees Liam open his car door and grab something from it, it really didn’t take a scientist to realise that Carlos was in danger. Carlos takes a step back, and then another, and as Liam closes his car door, items in hand, eyeing him, Carlos bolts over to the house.

Carlos runs inside, taking a look back… Which proved to be his biggest mistake.

-

So, this was definitely interesting. It already explains a lot. Ashley sits at her desk, writing in one of her notebooks. She has multiple notebooks for different patients of her, so she can write down everything, connect the dots, and pinpoint a reason for the problem, as well as some sort of treatment.

Right now, this is proving to be her biggest case. Ashley takes a minute to stop, reviewing what she has done. Resentment towards Carlos. This was really interesting, because when Ashley had greeted Carlos when he first came back from the trip, Liam was practically attached to him. Something had to of happen. Which Ashley thinks she can find out. Brahms killed the victims of the manor, and Carlos killed Brahms. She basically just solved the whole case here, apart from the why. Hah, suck on that investigators, Ashley thought. So, was it that Carlos killed Brahms out of revenge? Anger? Self defense?

And here lies her biggest question. They were told not to say anything, or would be locked up. The police were suppressing the survivors? But why? Ashley started to ponder, going into a spiral. Brahms was a really powerful man. He was able to afford that house, after all. Maybe his legal team was able to somehow bribe or convince police to side with him? But if all the evidence points to Brahms, why would they continue to cover it up? And why-

Ashley’s phone rings, startling Ashley. Ashley glances at the time, to see it’s about 3 in the morning. Who in the world was calling her at this time? She grabs her phone and looks at the contact name. It’s Laura. Confused as to why she was up, Ashley presses the answer button.

“Hello, Laura?” Ashley answers.

“Ashley? Ashley, are you there?!” Laura’s voice seemed panicked and worried.

“Yeah, I’m here. What are you doing up so late?” Ashley replied.

“Oh, thank god. Ashley, please.”

“Laura? What’s going on?” Ashley asked, trying to put together what could have her so panicked.

And the second Laura’s answer came through the phone, Ashley’s world freezes. Her eyes widen, as she glances back at Liam’s notebook. Resentment towards Carlos. That note already solves and puts together the whole case when Laura says:

“Ashley, please help me. Carlos is missing.”

-

“Alright, ma’am, can you tell me when was the last time you had seen Carlos?”

Laura looks down, the memory clear in her head. “Late last night. Someone had rang the doorbell, and Carlos was standing there, looking at the door. He told me to go back to sleep while he opened it. And that was the last time I saw him.”

Officer James pulls out his little notepad, writing in it. “Alright, Miss Cortes. We are going to finish up our sweep of your house, to look for something of use. Feel free to find someone to stay with in the meantime. Understand?”

Laura sighs, turning to the door. “Yeah.”

She closes the door behind her. Great, kicked out of her own house. She had to find someone to explain the situation to. She had told Ashley, who immediately called the police. She said she has things that are confidential, but to keep an eye on Liam. With that in mind, maybe someone who can help her is someone who went through the experience with Carlos.

Laura finds herself walking in front of a pub. She only comes at night with her friends during a special day or occasion to drink the night away. Matter of fact, most people only come at night. But this was her only hope. Sighing, she pushes the door open.

Walking inside, she scans the area, luckily landing on exactly who she was looking for: Ollie, sitting on a red stool, leaning over the bar to flirt with a waitress, beer in hand. That already kinda ticked Laura off. Didn’t Ollie know that Carlos was head over heels for him?

Carlos had told her about the whole fiasco. Ollie had rejected Carlos and broke what little spirit he had left. However, Carlos had said they were getting better. The constant trips to Ollie’s apartment were helping Carlos, they were slowly rebuilding their friendship. But the constant bruises, tired looks, raspy voice Carlos comes back with proves otherwise.

Laura nearly storms up to Ollie. “Ollie? Can I have a word with you?”

Ollie glances at her. So does the waitress, who sighs in disgust. “Ugh, your girlfriend?” The waitress glares and walks away, which Laura could care less about. She pulls Ollie to a corner of the bar.

“Laura, what the hell, I was about to score that girl!” Ollie says angrily.

“No, you shut up. I’d honestly tell you to fuck off for hurting Carlos, but right now I need your help, considering Carlos is missing.”

Ollie took a beat. “Carlos is missing?”

Laura rolls her eyes. “Yes.”

Ollie repeats the gesture then, scoffing at her. “And how do you know he didn’t just go off somewhere to hoe around or whatever?”

Laura physically had to restrain herself from punching this guy. “Because, his phone was on the floor in front of my open front door.” She gritted out.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, deal with it yourself.” Ollie was very clearly not listening to her anymore, instead eyeing up another girl.

“This is serious! What if Carlos is-” Laura starts talking, but is rudely dismissed as Ollie literally walks away in the middle of her sentence, wrapping himself around the girl.

What the hell. So douchebag Ollie is out of the question. Without thinking, she exits out, and now finds herself in front of Giselle’s house. She supposes that Felicite’s house should have been next, since she also survived along with Carlos, but Laura was just pulled over with the thought of telling Giselle.

She rings the doorbell, to which Giselle cheerfully opens the door. When Giselle eyes land on Laura, though, her face drops.

“Laura? Is everything okay?”

Giselle breaks down when Laura breaks the news. Laura kneels beside Giselle, consoling her friend. Giselle tries to compose herself, though it doesn’t really work.

“I’m sorry.” Giselle apologizes. “It’s just that… Leah had also gone missing, only to turn up dead. And now Carlos… I just can’t stand that thought.”

Giselle must have realised how badly that sounded by the way Laura’s breath hitched. “Oh, no, I didn’t mean he is dead! I just mean, it really is something to worry about!”

“Yeah.” Laura really didn’t know what to do. This has never happened before. She glanced at Giselle, eyes pleading, and Giselle looks back at her.

“What do we do now?”

-

This is his fault. He deserves this. Why is he so fucked, why is he a coward, why did he let his friends die, why, why, why?!

Carlos looks down at the wooden, crepit floor, his tears dripping onto it. The chains around his hands and waist ensures he isn’t able to escape. His pale cheeks are flushed red as tears stream down them, his black and white hair mussed up, his spirit broken. He deserves this, doesn’t he?

He had let Valerie die. When she walked into his room while he was injured, he could tell that she had something she wanted to say, and he should’ve kept her with him, or made her tell him, or something, just something to have his sweet Valerie back again.

He killed Brahms, Liam’s best friend. Yeah, Brahms killed all his friends. Yeah, Brahms killed his boyfriend. Brahms almost killed him. But Brahms was Liam’s best man. His rock. And Carlos took that away from him. It’s like how Brahms killed Valerie and took her away from Carlos. When he puts it in that perspective, then what makes Brahms so different from Carlos?

He pulls on the chains again, a sob escaping his throat as reality sets in. He’s gonna die in here. He’d never see the light of day again. He’d never see Laura, or Ashley, or Felicite, Ollie, Giselle, everyone again. Why else would he be trapped down here for?

Carlos slumps down, defeated. His mind spins around, recalling all the people who he had failed to save. Leah, who had been strangled to death with a barbed wire, according to the autopsy report. Harry, stabbed multiple times in the gut. Valerie, her neck snapped. Willow, who, even though wasn’t affiliated with them in any way, still tried to save them, only to be betrayed and fatally stabbed. Gage, his boyfriend, neck slit, because Carlos had stupidly got involved with Ollie, who now shows complete disinterest, meaning his boyfriend had died in vain.

He hears the door opening, and footsteps descending down the stairs. Carlos straightens up, wiping his tears away, and setting his usual, unnerving blank look. He may be a murderer, a coward, a fucking idiot, but he wasn’t stupid. He wasn’t going to show his weak side.

And standing in front of him is none other than Liam himself. Carlos nearly glares at his captor, but keeps his blank stare steady. Again, can’t show emotion.

“You know, that look you have going on is really unnerving.” Liam says with mild annoyance.

Ha, that’s the point. Carlos keeps his stare, not talking or moving at all. Why would he? It’s always gotten him in trouble.

“That’s code for, you know, you should stop it?” Liam says, the annoyance in his voice slightly louder.

Carlos keeps his stare.

“Are you listening to me?”

Stare.

Liam leans down, grabs a hold of Carlos’s shirt collar, and lifts him up, so Carlos’s face is facing Liam’s. “You better respond to me, boy. I can kill you when I want.” Carlos almost wants to say go ahead, but keeps staring on, unable to stop his glare from coming through. “Just like you killed Brahms. You know that when you did that, you took away my best friend. And that won’t go without fault. Bitch.”

He roughly pulls Carlos down to the ground, and lets go of him. Carlos watches on, his face red with anger, as Liam saunters his way upstairs.

Liam was right, in a way. This won’t go without fault. Bitch.

-

“Liam, is everything okay?” Liam can hear his mother’s voice flowing sweetly through the kitchen.

“Yeah, mom. I think I’m gonna go to sleep, though.” Liam takes his jacket off, hanging it on the clothes rack.

“Oh, but I made dinner-”

“Goodnight, mom! I’ll eat it whenever!”

Angela, Liam’s mom, looks out in disappointment, her smile slowly dropping into a sad frown. “Oh, okay dear. I’ll leave it here for you in the morning.”

Liam stomps upstairs. Can that woman not leave him alone? After the whole incident, Liam had let himself into her home. She had taken him in, of course, feeling horrible about the entire thing. But man, was she a nuisance!

He didn’t tell her about Carlos. How could he? That would be just asking to be sent to prison. His mother was a very loving human, but was easy to panic. If she found out her son was holding a little rat in her basement, she would freak out.

Liam laid down on his bed, his eyes slowly closing, as he began to drift off to sleep. He would figure out what to do with Carlos in the morning.


	3. Medicate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ashley figures Liam out; Two detectives work on the disappearance; Laura has unwanted and forceful advances made on her.

Something’s off with him. Ashley can tell already.

“Are you feeling alright, Liam?” Ashley asks. Liam fidgets around, unable to stay still for whatever reason.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Get on with it.” Liam huffs out.

“Alright. Let’s start with this. What is something you are worried about right now?” Ashley clicks her pen on, prepared to write.

Liam seems to really think about the question, before answering. “I think… I think I’m worried about slipping up and telling someone something I’m not supposed to.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Liam’s eyes flicker to the side, and he begins tapping his foot. “Um… About the house. The incident. Because the officials would lock us up, and I don’t want to be locked up, and I’m only telling you cuz you did say this is all confidential, but yeah, that’s it. Just the incident.”

He’s hiding something. Ashley can see it in his movements. The way his eyes look down to the left, fiddling with his thumbs, the tapping getting faster. It’s the small things that can diffuse lies and get to the truth. Ashley won’t push it for now, but now she can definitely rule out that while Liam probably is worried about the incident, that can’t be all. Liam wasn’t this jumpy and nervous before. Something happened recently, and Ashley definitely knows what it is. How should she bring it up, though?

“Let’s talk about some of your relationships with the fellow occupants of that night. This will be easy. Just tell me exactly what you think of them. Got it?” Ashley looks up to make sure Liam gets the idea.

Liam nods. “Alright. I want to talk about Brahms first. He seems to be the one you were closest to. Can you tell me some things you think about when you hear his name?”

Liam looks up, thinking. “He was… He was charitable. He always thought things over and through. He was pitiful, too. He took pity on me and took me under his wing. I mean,” Liam gestures at himself, chuckling. “Without him, what am I now?”

Ashley looks up at him, before writing his descriptions down. “You always have an opportunity to change. Nothing is set in stone.” She puts her pen down, and looks at Liam, studying him. “Let’s move on to Carlos. You seem to feel very passionate about him as well, though it probably isn’t in a good way.”

“Oh.” Liam says, trying to act generally disinterested.

“Can you tell me what comes to mind when I mention Carlos?”

“A bitch.” Liam crosses his arms. “He ruined everything.”

“He saved you.” Ashley calmly slides in.

“Well, yeah. But… He killed Brahms, man. What the hell. Next thing.” Liam looks down.

“I had spoken to Carlos earlier in the month, and he told me that it was done in an act of self defense.”

“Didn’t have to go and kill him, though. Next subject.”

He isn’t thinking rationally. He’s so angry about Carlos killing Brahms that he doesn’t see that Brahms did the same thing to Carlos, killing his friends. 4 different friends.

Ashley looks up, and sees Liam a little more relaxed, having gotten all of it out. Which gives Ashley the perfect time to strike.

“Did you know that Carlos was recently declared missing?”

Liam tenses up, slowly looking up at Ashley. “Yes.”

“How do you feel about it?”

“He’s getting what he deserves.”

Ashley narrows her eyes at Liam. “Liam, do you know where Carlos is?”

Liam’s breath hitches, his shoulders slightly tensed up. She had him.

Liam roughly stands up from his chair. “This is over. I’m not gonna be seen as a killer.” He storms out, closing the door roughly, leaving Ashley alone with all the puzzle pieces put together.

-

There’s a footprint. A barely noticeable footprint, embedded onto the driveway. To the untrained eye, you may have not noticed it, but Alex isn’t an untrained eye.

As a special agent, he puts all his work into the case he is given. He and his partner, Brody, are like two peas in a pod. They are inseparable. They met when they were just little children, but they both had a dream to be detectives, to be agents, something cool. When you really looked at it, they were sort of a case of the good cop and bad cop. Except, rational cop and impulsive cop. Alex was the one who thought rationally, coming up with a plan and make sure everything made sense and was put together. Brody, on the other hand, was more impulsive, jumping to conclusions and just going about things without thinking or having a plan. He resembled sort of the child he was 20 years ago, which was something that was quite charming about him.

“Hey, Brody, look at this.” Alex called out. Alex takes the imprint of the footprint that he made, and shows it to his partner. “Bingo. Clue number one.”

“Awe, sick.” Brody says, grabbing ahold of the imprint and studying it. “With this we can find out the culprit for sure.”

“Well, not necessarily.” Alex says, grabbing the attention of Brody. “Yeah, we have a footprint, and we can find out who it belongs to as well. But we still wouldn’t know if they had anything to do with the kidnapping, or if it was just a friend or visitor who came earlier.”

“Damn.” Brody says, defeated. “Well, I guess let’s go over the suspect list and test out their shoes to match the footprint.”

Alex makes his way to Laura’s room, using one of her shoes to test out if it fits or not. Just as suspected, it didn’t. It didn’t fit Carlos’s shoe either, meaning it wasn’t him who left it.

“Hey, you have the list, right?” Alex calls out behind him to Brody.

“Yeah! Um…” Brody feels around, and then looks at Alex sheepishly. “I think I left it in the car, hold up.” Brody sprints out of the house, heading over to the car.

Alex sighs and shakes his head fondly. He loves his best friend, he really does, but Brody can really be out of it sometimes. But even though Brody is a little disorganized and impulsive, Alex could never think of having another partner, or another friend with him.

Alex pulls out his phone, unlocking it and going onto his notes, where he pulls up a note containing all the suspects they had. Alex foresaw Brody forgetting the list, per usual, so he had taken the time to type it all out himself.

The list consisted of Laura, Felicite, Liam, and Ollie. From the get go, Alex had wanted to already cross out Laura, because it was totally out of the blue she would do anything to even hurt Carlos, but officer James was a bit too stubborn, insisting on keeping her on for now till they had more evidence.

Felicite and Liam were people who lived in the mansion, but escaped when everything went down. But from an outsider's point of view, Felicite and Liam both seemed to be pretty fine with Carlos. Alex knows Liam had been seeing the local therapist, Ashley, so Alex could try and pry some information out of her. She was very committed to her vow of concealing any information about her clients, but it was worth a try. For now though, Felicite and Liam could be crossed off the list.

That left Ollie, the most obvious suspect from an immediate glance. It was no mystery to anyone really that Ollie had rejected Carlos’s love confession to him early on. But what some might not know is that while “taking a break” from each other,   
Carlos would wind up in Ollie’s apartment nearly every night. It was really suspicious to Alex, which got him to thinking. Maybe they have some kind of compromise together. If Carlos were to suddenly pull out, it would make Ollie absolutely enraged, and could lead to the disappearance of Carlos.

“Hey, Brody?” Alex calls out. Brody pops his head out from Laura’s kitchen.

“Yeah?” He asks.

“You wouldn’t know if Ollie Gunnar is available for a quick stop by, would you?”

A knowing smile spreads across Brody’s face and he grips his phone.

“I’ll make a call.”

-

Ollie slams down his beer bottle against the wooden table, eyebrows furrowing at the two agents. “What are you implying here?” He drunkenly slurs.

“We are not implying anything, Mr. Gunnar. We are simply asking you if you know any information of Carlos’s recent disappearance.” Alex calmly states.

“Though, with this defensive state you have, it is looking like you might be suspect to this.” Brody snarkily shoots back, earning a glare and a shush from Alex.

“What?!” Ollie screams at them, standing up. “I’m over this, I don’t like you blaming me for Carlos’s disappearance. It’s his own fault for getting himself taken and leaving me alone!”

As Ollie rambles, Brody slowly starts forming a theory in his head. He thinks that he can cross Ollie off the list, and even has a reason as to why he can. “Mr. Gunnar?” Brody tries to get his attention, but Ollie completely ignores him.

“Hey, Ollie!” Alex yells out, finally getting Ollie to whip around.

“What could you possibly want now?!” Ollie yells.

“Ollie…” Brody starts, trying to find out the best way to bring this up. When he can’t think of a way, he just decides to just go for it. “Do you have feelings for Carlos?”

“W-What?” Ollie looks taken aback. “No… No. I don’t like him. Leave me alone!”

“Is that why you’re so aggressive about this?” Alex suspects. “Because you like him so much?”

“Get out!” Ollie screams, rudely shoving the two out. “Get out! Don’t come back!”

Ollie opens the door to shove the two agents out, but stops when he spots Laura, walking down the hall, going through her purse. She looks up and sees Ollie, frowning at the moment she walked in on.

“Hey, Ollie.” Laura says, walking over to him. “What’s going on, who are they?”

“Just some fucking rude guys blaming me.” Ollie sneers, as Laura looks at the agents, confused. Brody sighs, composing himself.

“We’re investigating Carlos’s disappearance, Ms. Cortes.” Brody explains.

“Oh. Well, why are you yelling at them?” Laura questions.

“Just…” Ollie stutters, before sighing and opening the door, signaling Laura in. “I’ll explain it to you. Inside. With them gone.” Ollie glares daggers at the agents, who back up. Laura starts walking in, turning to the agents as she does so.

“I’m sorry for all this. I’ll talk it out with him.” She smiles sadly at them, who wave her off, before walking down the hallway to record their new findings.

-

Laura sits down on the couch, thinking about a way to get rid of the foul smell of beer and smoke. Man, she really feels bad for the predicament Ollie is in, but he couldn’t make his apartment any more presentable?

As Ollie takes a seat next to her, Laura starts the conversation. “What did they say that made you mad?”

“They told me I apparently have feelings for Carlos.” Ollie spits out, which Laura almost laughs at. It was really obvious, and it amazes her that this is what he was mad about.

“That’s it?” Laura says, to which Ollie glares at her about. “Well, you do. Don’t you?”

Ollie looks at her as if she had grown two heads. “What? No! No way.”

“Ollie, I’ve seen the way you look at him. There’s more than just a friendship there.” Laura says, crossing her arms.

“I’m not gay.”

“That’s not what the hickeys say.”

“Laura. Listen.” Ollie says, smiling and looking like if he is almost trying to flirt with her. “I like girls. Pretty, delicate, and polite girls. Yet with a splash of feistiness and attitude that make them sexy.” He places a hand on Laura’s thigh, looking at her straight in the eyes.

“Like you.”

Oh shit. This isn’t good. Laura politely pushes Ollie’s hand off of her, nervously laughing. “No, I’m not any of that. Besides, Carlos-”

“This isn’t about Carlos anymore.” Ollie puts his hand back on her thigh, slowly sliding it up while giving her that devilish smirk. “It’s about you now.”

“Ollie…” Laura stares in shock at her friend making advances on her. “Ollie, no. This isn’t right.”

“Then why does it feel just right?” Ollie remarks, hand still gliding up.

Laura pushes it off, and scoots away from Ollie. “Okay, Ollie, I don’t- You and Carlos are…” Laura starts to feel a little scared for herself, too shocked about this turn of events to even form words.

Ollie starts to be a little more forceful then. He crawls over to Laura, cornering her on that couch. “Just be still and let me give you a good time.” He grabs Laura’s wrist.

“Ollie.” Laura strictly orders, but he doesn’t seem to be listening to her. “Ollie, no. Let go of me.”

He pins her wrist on the couch, finding himself on top of her. “You look good like this.”

“Ollie, let me go!” Laura says more forcefully, using her other hand to try and push Ollie off of her. “Ollie, stop!”

Ollie smirks at her as he leans in for a kiss. Laura isn’t having any of this, going to her last resort and kneeing his stomach, which gets him to let go of her and instead clutch his stomach. Using the opportunity, Laura rolls out from the couch and stands up, running into the kitchen and backing away from Ollie who is also off the couch, looking at her.

“Ollie, please stop.” Laura pleads. “I don’t want this.”

Ollie just continues to stare at her, and for a second, Laura thinks he finally gets it. She doesn’t want this. That this isn’t right.

That all changes though when Ollie walks to the door and locks it.


End file.
